Chapter One--THEATRE (BRIEF EDITION) by Robert Cohen WHAT IS THE THEATRE? Chapter One--THEATRE (BRIEF EDITION) by Robert Cohen

THEATRE from the Greek theatron meaning “seeing place”

DRAMA from the Greek dran meaning “to do”

--the verbal aspects of theatre --a process (to be dramatic) DRAMA is --a text --the verbal aspects of theatre --a process (to be dramatic)

THEATRE is hardware

A theatre building  National Theatre of Romania National Theatre of Great Britain 

Where films are shown

“theatre of operations” A metaphor “theatre of operations” “operating theatre”

A space Karl C. Bruder Theatre Emporia State University

Theatre is WORK Sports, games and theatre have always been related and some plays combine both as in the example above, the musical version of ROCKY, originally produced in Hamburg, Germany and later on Broadway.

The occupation of theatre

A company, or troupe of players

Producing

Directing Trevor Nunn Julie Taymor Peter Hall

Acting

Designing

Crews Construction crew Dressers House management Ushers Stage management Stagehands Electricians

The art of making play into work OR creativity into ART ART is…ennobling, entertaining, educative It requires IMPERSONATION Performance requires an audience THEATRE is live and in the moment

For an audience

REPRESENTATIONAL “willing suspension of disbelief”

PRESENTATIONAL Highly theatrical

Stand-up is presentational

Film is representational

Actors on the Theatre Theatre is about authenticity. It’s in front of you; you feel it. It’s so hard to feel stuff any more from film… It can get very remote. Meryl Streep

Actors on the Theatre There is only so long you can go from film to film. Theatre is a more raw experience. For an actor a live audience is creative inspiration. Jude Law

Actors on the theatre One of the glorious things about the theatre is that it cannot be preserved. You cannot look at it again; it’s live… Cinema is dead. You can laugh, you can cry, you can shout at the screen and the movie will carry on. But an audience in the theatre, whether it knows it or not, is affecting the performance…That’s the stream of life at its best, isn’t it? Ian McKellan

Daniel Radcliffe I love the stage, and I love being on stage, and the rush and the fear and all of that…

What is a play? That question will be addressed in a separate chapter…